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|l John Adams’s 
y Inaugural. 


sSoutl) iLcafletjsf. 


No. 103. 


INAUGURAL ADDRESS AT PHILADELPHIA, MARCH 4, 1797. 


When it was first perceived, in early times, that no middle 
course for America remained between unlimited submission to 
a foreign legislature and a total independence of its claims, 
men of reflection were less apprehensive of danger from the 
formidable power of fleets and armies they must determine to 
resist than from those contests and dissensions which would 
certainly arise concerning the forms of government to be in¬ 
stituted over the whole and over the parts of this extensive 
country. Relying, however, on the purity of their intentions, 
the justice of their cause, and the integrity and intelligence of 
the people, under an overruling Providence which had so sig¬ 
nally protected this country from the first, the representatives 
of this nation, then consisting of little more than half its pres¬ 
ent number, not only broke to pieces the chains which were 
forging and the rod of iron that was lifted up, but frankly cut 
asunder the ties which had bound them, and launched into an 
ocean of uncertainty. 

The zeal and ardor of the people during the Revolutionary 
War, supplying the place of government, commanded a degree 
of order sufficient at least for the temporary preservation of 
society. The Confederation which was early felt to be neces¬ 
sary was prepared from the models of the Batavian and Hel¬ 
vetic confederacies, the only examples which remain with any 
detail and precision in history, and certainly the only ones 
which the people at large had ever considered. But, reflecting 
on the striking difference in so many particulars between this 


57 







2 


^ 7 - 

country and those where a courier may go from^the seat of 
government to the frontier in a single day, it was then cer¬ 
tainly foreseen by some who assisted in Congress at the forma¬ 
tion of it that it could not be durable. 

Negligence of its regulations, inattention to its recommenda¬ 
tions, if not disobedience to its authority, not only in individ¬ 
uals but in States, soon appeared with their melancholy conse¬ 
quences,— universal languor, jealousies and rivalries of States, 
decline of navigation and commerce, discouragement of neces¬ 
sary manufactures, universal fall in the value of lands and 
their produce, contempt of public and private faith, loss of 
consideration and credit with foreign nations, and at length in 
discontents, animosities, combinations, partial conventions, and 
insurrection, threatening some great national calamity. 

In this dangerous crisis the people of America were not 
abandoned by their usual good sense, presence of mind, reso¬ 
lution, or integrity. Measures were pursued to concert a plan 
to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic 
tranquillity, provide for the common defence, promote the gen¬ 
eral welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty. The public 
disquisitions, discussions, and deliberations issued in the pres¬ 
ent happy Constitution of Government. 

Employed in the service of my country abroad during the 
whole course of these transactions, I first saw the Constitution 
of the United States in a foreign country. Irritated by no 
literary altercation, animated by no public debate, heated by 
no party animosity, I read it with great satisfaction, as the 
result of good heads prompted by good hearts, as an experi¬ 
ment better adapted to the genius, character, situation, and 
relations of this nation and country than any which had ever 
<been proposed or suggested. In its general principles and 
.♦gr-eat outlines it was conformable to such a system of govern- 
iment as I had ever most esteemed, and in some States, my 
own native State in particular, had contributed to establish. 
Claiming 4 right of suffrage, in common with my fellow-citizens, 
an the adoption or rejection of a constitution which was to rule 
one and my posterity, as well as them and theirs, I did not 
hesiitate to express my approbation of it on all occasions, in 
public and in private. It was not then, nor has been since, 
.-any objection to it in my mind that the Executive and Senate 
were not more permanent. Nor have I ever entertained a 
thought of promoting any alteration in it but such as the people 
i8 


3 


themselves, in the course of their experience, should see and 
feel to be necessary or expedient, and by their representatives 
in Congress and the State legislatures, according to the Con¬ 
stitution itself, adopt and ordain. 

Returning to the bosom of my country after a painful sepa¬ 
ration from it for ten years, I had the honor to be elected to 
a station under the new order of things; and I have repeatedly 
laid myself under the most serious obligations to support the 
Constitution. The operation of it has equalled the most 
sanguine expectations of its friends; and from an habitual at¬ 
tention to it, satisfaction in its administration, and delight in 
its effects upon the peace, order, prosperity, and happiness of 
the nation I have acquired an habitual attachment to it and 
veneration for it. 

What other form of government, indeed, can so well deserve 
our esteem and love ? 

There may be little solidity in an ancient idea that congrega¬ 
tions of men into cities and nations are the most pleasing ob¬ 
jects in the sight of superior intelligences; but this is very 
certain, that to a benevolent human mind there can be no 
spectacle presented by any nation more pleasing, more noble, 
majestic, or august, than an assembly like that which has so 
often been .seen in this and the other Chamber of Congress, of 
a Government in which the Executive authority, as well as that 
of all the branches of the Legislature, are exercised by citizens 
selected at regular periods by their neighbors to make and exe¬ 
cute laws for the general good. Can anything essential, any¬ 
thing more than mere ornament and decoration, be added to 
this by robes and diamonds ? Can authority be more amiable 
and respectable when it descends from accidents or institutions 
established in remote antiquity than when it springs fresh from 
the hearts and judgments of an honest and enlightened people } 
For it is the people only that are represented. It is their 
power and majesty that is reflected, and only for their good, 
in every legitimate government, under whatever form it may 
appear. The existence of such a government as ours for any 
length of time is a full proof of a general dissemination of 
knowledge and virtue throughout the whole body of the people. 
And what object or consideration more pleasing than this can 
be presented to the human mind? If national pride is ever 
justifiable or excusable, it is when it springs, not from power or 
riches, grandeur or glory, but from conviction of national inno¬ 
cence, information, and benevolence. 


59 


4 


In the midst of these pleasing ideas we should be unfaithful 
to ourselves if we should ever lose sight of the danger to our 
liberties, if anything partial or extraneous should infect the 
purity of our free, fair, virtuous, and independent elections. If 
an election is to be determined by a majority of a single vote, 
and that can be procured by a party through artifice or corrup¬ 
tion, the Government may be the choice of a party for its own 
ends, not of the nation for the national good. If that solitary 
suffrage can be obtained by foreign nations by flattery or 
menaces, by fraud or violence, by terror, intrigue, or venality, 
the Government may not be the choice of the American people, 
but of foreign nations. It may^be foreign nations who govern 
us, and not we, the people, who govern ourselves; and candid 
men will acknowledge that in such cases choice would have 
little advantage to boast of over lot or chance. 

Such is the amiable and interesting system of government 
(and such are some of the abuses to which it may be exposed) 
which the people of America have exhibited to the admiration 
and anxiety of the wise and virtuous of all nations for eight 
years under the administration of a citizen who, by a long 
course of great actions, regulated by prudence, justice, temper¬ 
ance, and fortitude, conducting a people inspired with the same 
virtues and animated with the same ardent patriotism and love 
of liberty to independence and peace, to increasing wealth and 
unexampled prosperity, has merited the gratitude of his fellow- 
citizens, commanded the highest praises of foreign nations, and 
secured immortal glory with posterity. 

In that retirement which is his voluntary choice may he long 
live to enjoy the delicious recollection of his services, the grati¬ 
tude of mankind, the happy fruits of them to himself and the 
world, which are daily increasing, and that splendid prospect 
of the future fortunes of this country which is opening from 
year to year. His name may be still a rampart, and the 
knowledge that he lives a bulwark, against all open or secret 
enemies of his country’s peace. This example has been recom¬ 
mended to the imitation of his successors by both Houses of 
Congress and by the voice of the legislatures and the people 
throughout the nation. 

On this subject it might become me better to be silent or to 
speak with diffidence; but, as something may be expected, the 
occasion, I hope, will be admitted as an apology if I venture to 
say that, if a preference, upon principle, of a free republican 
6o 


5 


government, formed upon long and serious reflection, after a 
diligent and impartial inquiry after truth; if an attachment to 
the Constitution of the United States, and a conscientious de¬ 
termination to support it until it shall be altered by the judg¬ 
ments and wishes of the people, expressed in the mode pre¬ 
scribed in it; if a respectful attention to the constitutions of 
the individual States and a constant caution and delicacy 
toward the State governments ; if an equal and impartial regard 
to the rights, interest, honor, and happiness of all the States in 
the Union, without preference or regard to a northern or south¬ 
ern, an eastern or western, position, their various political 
opinions on unessential points or their personal attachments; 
if a love of virtuous men of all parties and denominations; if 
a love of science and letters and a wish to patronize every 
rational elfort to encourage schools, colleges, universities, acad¬ 
emies, and every institution for propagating knowledge, virtue, 
and religion among all classes of the people, not only for their 
benign influence on the happiness of life in all its stages 
and classes, and of society in all its forms, but as the only 
means of preserving our Constitution from its natural enemies, 
the spirit of sophistry, the spirit of party, the spirit of intrigue, 
the profligacy of corruption, and the pestilence of foreign in¬ 
fluence, which is the angel of destruction to elective govern¬ 
ments ; if a love of equal laws, of justice, and humanity in the 
interior administration; if an inclination to improve agricult¬ 
ure, commerce, and manufactures for necessity, convenience, 
and defence; if a spirit of equity and humanity tow’ard the ab¬ 
original nations of America, and a disposition to meliorate their 
condition by inclining them to be more friendly to us, 
and our citizens to be more friendly to them ; if an inflexi¬ 
ble determination to maintain peace and inviolable faith 
with all nations, and that system of neutrality and impartiality 
among the belligerent powers of Europe which has been adopted 
by this Government and so solemnly sanctioned by both 
Houses of Congress and applauded by the legislatures of the 
States and the public opinion, until it shall be otherwise or¬ 
dained by Congress; if a personal esteem for the French 
nation, formed in a residence of seven years chiefly among 
them, and a sincere desire to preserve the friendship which 
has been so much for the honor and interest of both nations; 
if, while the conscious honor and integrity of the people of 
America and the internal sentiment of their own power and 

6i 


.6 


energies must be preserved, an earnest endeavor to investigate 
every just cause and remove every colorable pretence of com¬ 
plaint ; if an intention to pursue by amicable negotiation a repa¬ 
ration for the injuries that have been committed on the com¬ 
merce of our fellow-citizens by whatever nation, and if success 
cannot be obtained, to lay the facts before the Legislature, 
that they may consider what further measures the honor and 
interest of the Government and its constituents demand; if a 
resolution to do justice as far as may depend upon me, at all 
times and to all nations, and maintain peace, friendship, and 
benevolence with all the world; if an unshaken confidence in 
the honor, spirit, and resources of the American people, on 
which I have so often hazarded my all and never been de¬ 
ceived ; if elevated ideas of the high destinies of this country 
and of my own duties toward it, founded on a knowledge of 
the moral principles and intellectual improvements of the peo¬ 
ple deeply engraven on my mind in early life, and not obscured, 
but exalted by experience and age; and, with humble rever¬ 
ence, I feel it to be my duty to add, if a veneration for the re¬ 
ligion of a people who profess and call themselves Christians^ 
and a fixed resolution to consider a decent respect for Chris¬ 
tianity among the best recommendations for the public service, 
can enable me in any degree to comply with your wishes, it 
shall be my strenuous endeavor that this sagacious injunction 
of the two Houses shall not be without effect. 

With this great example before me, with the sense and spirit^ 
the faith and honor, the duty and interest, of the same Ameri¬ 
can people pledged to support the Constitution of the United 
States, I entertain no doubt of its continuance in all its energy; 
and my mind is prepared without hesitation to lay myself 
under the most solemn obligations to support it to the utmost 
of my power. 

And may that Being who is supreme over all, the Patron 
of Order, the Fountain of Justice, and the Protector in all ages 
of the world of virtuous liberty, continue His blessing upon 
this nation and its Government and give it all possible success 
and duration consistent with the ends of His providence. 


62 


7 


PRESIDENT ADAMS’S MESSAGE TO CONGRESS AT THE SPECIAL 
SESSION, MAY 16, 1 797. 

Gentleme?! of the Senate and Gentle7nen of the House of Repre¬ 
sentatives : 

The personal inconveniences to the members of the Senate 
and of the House of Representatives in leaving their families 
and private affairs at this season of the year are so obvious 
that I the more regret the extraordinary occasion which has 
rendered the convention of Congress indispensable. 

It would have afforded me the highest satisfaction to have 
been able to congratulate you on a restoration of peace to the 
nations of Europe, whose animosities have endangered our 
tranquillity; but we have still abundant cause of gratitude to 
the Supreme Dispenser of National Blessings for general 
health and promising seasons, for domestic and social happi¬ 
ness, for the rapid progress and ample acquisitions of industry 
through extensive territories, for civil, political, and religious 
liberty. While other states are desolated with foreign war or 
convulsed with intestine divisions, the United States present 
the pleasing prospect of a nation governed by mild and equal 
laws, generally satisfied with the possession of their rights, 
neither envying the advantages nor fearing the power of other 
nations, solicitous only for the maintenance of order and jus¬ 
tice and the preservation of liberty, increasing daily in their 
attachment to a system of government in proportion to their 
experience of its utility, yielding a ready and general obedience 
to laws flowing from the reason and resting on the only solid 
foundation,— the affections of the people. 

It is with extreme regret that I shall be obliged to turn your 
thoughts to other circumstances, which admonish us that some 
of these felicities may not be lasting. But, if the tide of our 
prosperity is full and a reflux commencing, a vigilant circum¬ 
spection becomes us, that we may meet our reverses with 
fortitude and extricate ourselves from their consequences with 
all the skill we possess and all the efforts in our power. 

In giving to Congress information of the state of the Union 
and recommending to their consideration such measures as 
appear to me to be necessary or expedient, according to my 
constitutional duty, the causes and the objects of the present 
extraordinary session will be explained. 

63. 


8 - 


After the President of the United States received informa¬ 
tion that the P'rench Government had expressed serious dis¬ 
contents at some proceedings of the Government of these States 
said to affect the interests of France, he thought it expedient 
to send to that country a new minister, fully instructed to enter 
on such amicable discussions and to give such candid explana¬ 
tions as might happily remove the discontents and suspicions 
of the French Government and vindicate the conduct of the 
United States. For this purpose he selected from among his 
fellow-citizens a character whose integrity, talents, experience, 
and services had placed him in the rank of the most esteemed 
and respected in the nation. The direct object of his mission 
was expressed in his letter of credence to the French Republic, 
being “ to maintain that good understanding which from the 
commencement of the alliance had subsisted between the two 
nations, and to efface unfavorable impressions, banish sus¬ 
picions, and restore that cordiality which was at once the evi¬ 
dence and pledge of a friendly union.” And his instructions 
were to the same effect, “ faithfully to represent the disposition 
of the Government and people of the United States (their dis¬ 
position being one), to remove jealousies and obviate com¬ 
plaints by shewing that they were groundless, to restore that 
mutual confidence which had been so unfortunately and inju¬ 
riously impaired, and to explain the relative interests of both 
countries and the real sentiments of his own.” 

A minister thus specially commissioned, it was expected, 
would have proved the instrument of restoring mutual confi¬ 
dence between the two Republics. The first step of the 
French Government corresponded with that expectation. A 
few days before his arrival at Paris the French minister of 
foreign relations informed the American minister then resident 
at Paris of the formalities to be observed by himself in taking 
leave, and by his successor preparatory to his reception. 
These formalities they observed, and on the 9 th of December 
presented officially to the minister of foreign relations, the one 
a copy of his letters of recall, the other a copy of his letters of 
credence. 

These were laid before the Executive Directory. Two days 
afterwards the minister of foreign relations informed the re¬ 
called American minister that the Executive Directory had 
determined not to receive another minister plenipotentiary 
from the United States until after the redress of grievances 
64 


9 


demanded of the American Government, and which the French 
Republic had a right to expect from it. The American minis¬ 
ter immediately endeavored to ascertain whether by refusing to 
receive him it was intended that he should retire from the 
territories of the French Republic, and verbal answers were 
given that such was the intention of the Directory. For his 
own justification he desired a written answer, but obtained 
none until toward the last of January, when, receiving notice in 
writing to quit the territories of the Republic, he proceeded to 
Amsterdam, where he proposed to wait for instruction from 
this Government. During his residence at Paris cards of 
hospitality were refused him, and he was threatened with being 
subjected to the jurisdiction of the minister of police; but 
with becoming firmness he insisted on the protection of the law 
of nations due to him as the known minister of a foreign 
power. You will derive further information from his de¬ 
spatches, which will be laid before you. 

As it is often necessary that nations should treat for the 
mutual advantage of their affairs, and especially to accommo¬ 
date and terminate differences, and as they can treat only by 
ministers, the right of embassy is well known and established 
by the law and usage of nations. The refusal on the part of 
France to receive our minister is, then, the denial of a right; 
but the refusal to receive him until we have acceded to their 
demands without discussion and without investigation is to 
treat us neither as allies nor as friends, nor as a sovereign 
state. 

With this conduct of the French Government it will be 
proper to take into view the public audience given to the late 
minister of the United States on his taking leave of the Execu¬ 
tive Directory. The speech of the President discloses senti¬ 
ments more alarming than the refusal of a minister, because 
more dangerous to our independence and union, and at the 
same time studiously marked with indignities toward the 
Government of the United States. It evinces a disposition to 
separate the people of the United States from the Government, 
to persuade them that they have different affections, principles, 
and interests from those of their fellow-citizens whom they 
themselves have chosen to manage their common concerns, 
and thus to produce divisions fatal to our peace. Such 
attempts ought to be repelled with a decision which shall 
convince France and the world that we are not a degraded 

65 


10 


people, humiliated under a colonial spirit of fear and sense of 
inferiority, fitted to be the miserable instruments of foreign in¬ 
fluence, and regardless of national honor, character, and 
interest. 

I should have been happy to have thrown a veil over these 
transactions if it had been possible to conceal them ; but they 
have passed on the great theatre of the world, in the face of 
all Europe and America, and with such circumstances of pub¬ 
licity and solemnity that they cannot be disguised and will not 
soon be forgotten. They have inflicted a wound in the Ameri¬ 
can breast. It is my sincere desire, however, that it may be 
healed. 

It is my sincere desire, and in this I presume I concur with 
you and with our constituents, to preserve peace and friendship 
with all nations; and believing that neither the honor nor the 
interest of the United States absolutely forbid the repetition of 
advances for securing these desirable objects with France, I 
shall institute a fresh attempt at negotiation, and shall not fail to 
promote and accelerate an accommodation on terms compatible 
with the rights, duties, interests, and honor of the nation. If 
we have committed errors, and these can be demonstrated, we 
shall be willing to correct them ; if we have done injuries, we 
shall be willing on conviction to redress them; and equal 
measures of justice we have a right to expect from France and 
every other nation. 

The diplomatic intercourse between the United States and 
France being at present suspended, the Government has no 
means of obtaining official information from that country. 
Nevertheless, there is reason to believe that the Executive 
Directory passed a decree on the 2d of March last contraven¬ 
ing in part the treaty of amity and commerce of 1778, injurious 
to our lawful commerce and endangering the lives of our citi¬ 
zens. A copy of this decree will be laid before you. 

While we are endeavoring to adjust all our differences with 
France by amicable negotiation, the progress of the war in 
Europe, with depredations on our commerce, the personal in¬ 
juries to our citizens, and the general complexion of affairs 
render it my indispensable duty to recommend to your consid¬ 
eration effectual measures of defence. 

The commerce of the United States has become an interest¬ 
ing object of attention, whether we consider it in relation to 
the wealth and finances or the strength and resources of the 
66 


nation. With a seacoast of near 2,000 miles in extent, open¬ 
ing a wide field for fisheries, navigation, and commerce, a great 
portion of our citizens naturally apply their industry and enter¬ 
prise to these objects. Any serious and permanent injury to 
commerce would not fail to produce the most embarrassing 
disorders. To prevent it from being undermined and destroyed, 
it is essential that it receive an adequate protection. 

The naval establishment must occur to every man who con¬ 
siders the injuries committed on our commerce, the insults 
offered to our citizens, and the description of vessels by which 
these abuses have been practised. As the sufferings of our 
mercantile and seafaring citizens cannot be ascribed to the 
omission of duties demandable, considering the neutral situa¬ 
tion of our country, they are to be attributed to the hope of 
impunity arising from a supposed inability on our part to 
afford protection. To resist the consequences of such impres¬ 
sions on the minds of foreign nations and to guard against the 
degradation and servility w'hich they must finally stamp on the 
American character is an important duty of government. 

A naval power, next to the militia, is the natural defence of 
the United States. The experience of the last war would be 
sufficient to shew that a moderate naval force, such as would 
be easily within the present abilities of the Union, would have 
been sufficient to have baffled many formidable transportations 
of troops from one State to another, which were then practised. 
Our seacoasts, from their great extent, are more easily annpyed 
and more easily defended by a naval force than any other. 
With all the materials our country abounds; in skill our naval 
architects and navigators are equal to any, and commanders 
and seamen will not be wanting. 

But, although the establishment of a permanent system of 
naval defence appears to be requisite, I am sensible it cannot 
be formed so speedily and extensively as the present crisis de¬ 
mands. Hitherto I have thought proper to prevent the sailing 
of armed vessels except on voyages to the East Indies, where 
general usage and the danger from pirates appeared to render 
the permission proper. Yet the restriction has originated 
solely from a wish to prevent collisions with the powers at war, 
contravening the act of Congress of June, 1794, and not from 
any doubt entertained by me of the policy and propriety of per¬ 
mitting our vessels to employ means of defence while engaged 
in a lawful foreign commerce. It remains for Congress to 

67 


12 


prescribe such regulations as will enable our seafaring citizens 
to defend themselves against violations of the law of nations, 
and at the same time restrain thern from committing acts of 
hostility against the powers at war. In addition to this volun¬ 
tary provision for defence by individual citizens, it appears to 
me necessary to equip the frigates, and provide other vessels 
of inferior force, to take under convoy such merchant vessels 
as shall remain unarmed. 

The greater part of the cruisers whose depredations have 
been most injurious have been built and some of them partially 
equipped in the United States. Although an effectual remedy 
may be attended with difficulty, yet I have thought it my duty 
to present the subject generally to your consideration. If a 
mode can be devised by the wisdom of Congress to prevent the 
resources of the United States from being converted into the 
means of annoying our trade, a great evil will be prevented. 
With the same view, I think it proper to mention that some of 
our citizens resident abroad have fitted out privateers, and 
others have voluntarily taken the command, or entered on 
board of them, and committed spoliations on the commerce 
of the United States. Such unnatural and iniquitous practices 
can be restrained only by severe punishments. 

But, besides a protection of our commerce on the seas, I 
think it highly necessary to protect it at home, where it is col¬ 
lected in our most important ports. The distance of the 
United States from Europe and the well-known promptitude, 
ardor, and courage of the people in defence of their country 
happily diminish the probability of invasion. Nevertheless, to 
guard against sudden and predatory incursions, the situation of 
some of our principal seaports demands your consideration. 
And, as our country is vulnerable in other interests besides 
those of its commerce, you will seriously deliberate whether the 
means of general defence ought not to be increased by an addi¬ 
tion to the regular artillery and cavalry, and by arrangements 
for forming a provisional army. 

With the same view, and as a measure which, even in a time 
of universal peace, ought not to be neglected, I recommend to 
your consideration a revision of the laws for organizing, arm¬ 
ing, and disciplining the militia, to render that natural and safe 
defence of the country efficacious. 

Although it is very true that we ought not to involve our¬ 
selves in the political system of Europe, but to keep ourselves 
68 


13 


always distinct and separate from it if we can, yet to effect this 
separation, early, punctual, and continual information of the 
current chain of events and of the political projects in con¬ 
templation is no less necessary than if we were directly con¬ 
cerned in them. It is necessary, in order to the discovery of 
the efforts made to draw us into the vortex, in season to make 
preparations against them. However we may consider our¬ 
selves, the maritime and commercial powers of the world will 
consider the United States of America as forming a weight in 
that balance of power in Europe which never can be forgotten 
or neglected. It would not only be against our interest, but it 
would be doing wrong to one-half of Europe, at least, if we 
should voluntarily throw ourselves into either scale. It is a 
natural policy for a nation that studies to be neutral to consult 
with other nations engaged in the same studies and pursuits. 
At the same time that measures might be pursued with this 
view, our treaties with Prussia and Sweden, one of which is ex¬ 
pired and the other near expiring, might be renewed. 


Getitlemen of the House of Representatives: 

It is particularly your province to consider the state of the 
public finances, and to adopt such measures respecting them as 
exigencies shall be found to require. The preservation of 
public credit, the regular extinguishment of the public debt, 
and a provision of funds to defray any extraordinary expenses 
will of course call for your serious attention. Although the 
imposition of new burthens cannot be in itself, agreeable, yet 
there is no ground to doubt that the American people will 
expect from you such measures as their actual engagements, 
their present security, and future interests demand. 


Gentlemen of the SeJiate and Gentlemen of the House of RepreseJi- 
tatlves : 

The present situation of our country imposes an obligation 
on all the departments of Government to adopt an explicit and 
decided conduct. In my situation an exposition of the princi¬ 
ples by which my Administration will be governed ought not to 
be omitted. 

It is impossible to conceal from ourselves or the world what 
has been before observed, that endeavors have been employed 

69 


14 


to foster and establish a division between the Government and 
people of the United States. To investigate the causes which 
have encouraged this attempt is not necessary; but to repel, 
by decided and united councils, insinuations so derogatory to 
the honor and aggressions so dangerous to the Constitution, 
union, and even independence of the nation, is an indispensable 
duty. 

It must not be permitted to be doubted whether the people 
of the United States will support the Government established 
by their voluntary consent and appointed by their free choice, 
or whether, by surrendering themselves to the direction of foreign 
and domestic factions, in opposition to their own Govern¬ 
ment, they will forfeit the honorable station they have hitherto 
maintained. 

For myself, having never been indifferent to what concerned 
the interests of my country, devoted the best part of my life to 
obtain and support its independence, and constantly witnessed 
the patriotism, fidelity, and perseverance of my fellow-citizens 
on the most trying occasions, it is not for me to hesitate or 
abandon a cause in which my heart has been so long engaged. 

Convinced that the conduct of the Government has been just 
and impartial to foreign nations, that those internal regulations 
which have been established by law for the preservation of 
peace are in their nature proper, and that they have been fairly 
executed, nothing will ever be done by me to impair the na¬ 
tional engagements, to innovate upon principles which have 
been so deliberately and uprightly established, or to surrender 
in any mannei; the rights of the Government. To enable me to 
maintain this declaration, I rely, under God, with entire confi¬ 
dence on the firm and enlightened support of the National 
Legislature and upon the virtue and patriotism of my fellow- 
citizens. 


The complete edition of the Works of John Adams, in ten volumes, 
edited in the most thorough and scholarly manner and accompanied by 
an admirable biography by Charles Francis Adams, furnishes us with the 
richest and most satisfying material for the study of John Adams’s public 
services. This was prepared in 1856. In 1870 the biography, which oc¬ 
cupied the first of these ten volumes, was revised, and published separately 
in two volumes. The briefer life in the “ American Statesmen ” series is by 
John T. Morse, Jr. The admirable essay by Mellen Chamberlain on 
“ John Adams, the Statesman of the Revolution,” surveys Adams’s ser¬ 
vices only during the first period of his public life, not touching his Presi¬ 
dency. His election to the Presidency intensified the bitterness in France 
70 



15 


toward the United States which had been caused by the Jay treaty; and 
the relations became so strained that a special session of Congress was 
immediately called. As the questions growing out of this friction were the 
distinguishing features of Adams’s administration, his message to Congress 
is included in the present leaflet. Charles Francis Adams justly character¬ 
izes it as “ one of the most manly and dignified State papers that ever 
emanated from the American Executive.” Of the inaugural he writes as 
follows : — 

“Few efforts of the kind contain, within so narrow a compass, a more 
comprehensive view of a policy suitable for the chief magistrate of the 
United States, of any party. Not unaware of the rumors that had been 
sedulously spread against him, of his desire to alter the existing form of 
government and to introduce something which had ‘ an awful squinting to 
a monarchy,’ and not insensible of the importance of putting an end to 
them by a frank denial, he seized the opportunity to express his entire sat¬ 
isfaction with the Constitution, as conformable to such a system of govern¬ 
ment as he had ever most esteemed, and in his own State had contributed 
to establish. Then, going to the root of these calumnies, he added the 
decisive words : ‘ It was not then, nor has been since, any objection to it 
in my mind, that the Executive and Senate were not more permanent. 
Nor have I entertained a thought of promoting any alterations in it but 
such as the people themselves, in the course of their experience, should 
see and feel to be necessary or expedient and, by their representatives in 
Congress and the State legislatures, according to the Constitution itself 
adopt and ordain.’ 

“ Having thus removed the obstacles heretofore put in his way, he next 
declared the principles that should guide him for the future. With a high 
compliment to the administration as well as to the personal character of 
his predecessor, he proceeded to give, in one of the longest sentences in 
the language, his whole creed. Yet, long as it is, perhaps none was ever 
constructed by a statesman with less redundance to convey the same 
amount of meaning. After alluding to the general satisfaction felt with 
the course taken by Washington as a model for the imitation of his suc¬ 
cessors, he added these words: ‘ The occasion, I hope,’ etc. [See pas¬ 
sage in leaflet.] When deeply stirred by internal emotion, Mr. Adams’s 
manner became grave and very impressive. Nothing short of this could 
have made the delivery of so elaborate a paragraph at all effective before 
a large audience. The next day he wrote to his wife, in his most natural 
and candid manner : — 

“ ‘ Your dearest friend never had a more trying day tlian yesterday. A solemn scene it 
•v\as, indeed; and it was made more affecting to me by the presence of the General, whose 
countenance was as serene and unclouded as the day. He seemed to me to enjoy a triumph over 
me. Methought 1 heard him say: “ Ay 1 I am fairly out, and you fairly in 1 See which of 
us will be happiest. ” When the ceremony was over, he came and made me a visit, and cor¬ 
dially congratulated me and wished my administration might be happy, successful, and hon¬ 
orable. In the chamber of the House of Representatives was a multitude as great as tlie 
space could contain, and I believe scarcely a dry eye but Washington’s. The sight of the 
sun setting full-orbed, and another rising, though less splendid, was a novelty. Chief Jus¬ 
tice Ellsworth administered the oath, and with great energ>'. Judges Cushing, Wilson, and 
Iredell were present. Many ladies. I had not slept well the night before, and did not 
sleep well the night after, 1 was unwell, and did not know whether I should get through or 
not. I did, however. How the business was received I know not, only I have been told 
that Mason, the treaty publisher, said we should lose nothing by the change, for he never 
heard such a speech in public in his life. All agreed that, taken altogether, it was the sub- 
limest thing ever e.xhibited in America.’ ” 


71 


i6 


“ The fact is unquestionable that this speech was very well received by 
the public at large. Even the members of the opposition declared them¬ 
selves relieved by it from much anxiety, and disposed to await further de¬ 
velopments of the executive policy. Mr. Jefferson, on taking his post as 
Vice-President, had gone so far as to declare that the high functions of the 
first office had been ‘justly confided’ to Mr. Adams, and to deprecate any 
untoward event which should devolve the duties of it during his term of 
office upon himself. The only persons who manifested discontent were to 
be found among the Federalists sympathizing with Mr. Hamilton. They 
lamented its tone as temporizing. Their party feeling would have 
prompted a thorough demarcation of the line between themselves and the 
opposition, by the delineation of a policy wFich every man should be 
obliged to notice, and by the acceptance or rejection of which his own 
position should be unmistakably defined. The avoidance of this course in 
the address was ominous to them of the accession to the chair of a man 
who would not meet their expectations; and this suspicion other events, 
which soon came to their knowledge, had a strong tendency to confirm.” 


PUBLISHED BY 

THE DIRECTORS OF THE OLD SOUTH WORK, 
Old South Meeting-house, Boston, Mass. 


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